Airborn

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
This book is a Michael Printz Honor Book.

Matt Cruse is living the life he has always dreamed of, working on an Airship.   The Aurora is a luxury ship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean. Matt works as a cabin boy, but hopes one day to be a sailmaker. One night he helps rescue a dying balloonist and hears about the beautiful creatures who drift in the skies almost like angels.  He keeps hoping that he will see these creatures one day.

Several months later, a passenger named Kate de Viers, asks Matt about an older gentleman who was brought on board but later died.  Matt had been there to talk to him before he died and she wanted to know what was said.  He was her grandfather and she missed him very much.  Mostly she wanted to know what he said about the last few days before he died.  Matt couldn't tell her much.  She was anxious to learn more about the cloud creatures that her grandfather saw.  That night pirates boarded the Aurora and were about to take off after looting the passengers when  a storm hit.  In an attempt to take off from the ship, the pirates cut holes in the structure of the airship and she started to lose ground.  They landed on an island to repair the ship and Kate figured out that this was the place the cloud creatures were last seen.  They start exploring and find the skeleton of one of the creatures.  The look for signs of life of one of them and find a large nest.  The creature that fell to earth being born survived.

Matt, Kate and Lundardi set out to find the live "cloud cat".  Once it was found they tried to get pictures of it but Lundardi was attacked and had to run for it.  Kate and Matt also stumble into the camp of the pirates who live on the island.  They almost get away but the pirates board them again.  They mean to take the ship down and ruin her.  Matt and Kate find a way to take down the pirates one at a time to save the ship. 


An overall enjoyable book that takes you on an adventure you could never dream of having.  The sky was their portal to the wonderful scenery and breathtaking vistas that were described in the book.